“Usability is an approach to product development that
incorporates direct user feedback throughout the development
cycle in order to reduce costs and create products and tools
that meet user needs." Usability Professionals’ Association
(UPA)
Simply put, usability is making an interface easy for customers
to find the information they need and achieve the goals they
have quickly and efficiently.
Usability is defined by five quality components:
- Learnability: How easy is it for users to
accomplish basic tasks the first time they encounter the design?
- Efficiency: Once users have learned the
design, how quickly can they perform tasks?
- Memorability: When users return to the design
after a period of not using it, how easily can they reestablish
proficiency?
- Errors: How many errors do users make, how
severe are these errors, and how easily can they recover from
the errors?
- Satisfaction: How pleasant is it to use
the design?
There are many other important quality attributes. A key one
is utility, which refers to the design's functionality:
Does it do what users need? Usability and utility are equally
important: It matters little that something is easy if it's not
what you want. It's also no good if the system can hypothetically
do what you want, but you can't make it happen because the user
interface is too difficult. To study a design's utility, you
can use the same user research methods that improve usability.
What is the ROI of usability?
Usability
is a critical element of user experience. While usability relates
to the ease of use of a product, the user experience reflects
the overall satisfaction of the user while using the product.
The least the user thinks about what he is doing, the better
the experience.
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